A New Face
by TeamBadger
Summary: There is a new student at Gotham Heights, what secret is this person keeping?
1. Chapter 1

It was a cold day in November. The leaves had fallen weeks ago and now the barren trees were a gloomy forefront to the even gloomier Gotham. I was sitting on the track that curved around my school's football field. Gotham Heights had lost in the first round of playoffs and cross-country had been a bust too. I hugged my knees and thought about this lousy first year. Mom had insisted that I go here even though all my friends went to a public school downtown. I was grateful for the chance to be something more than what my Mom got, really, but I wished I could mess around with my old gang. I missed my rag-tag bunch of misfits, though I knew they sure didn't miss me.

I was freezing, George should have picked me up hours ago. I grinned, maybe Mom would yell at him for this, he deserved whatever he got. Me and my step-father had not started out on the right foot. The first time he told me to call him dad, I burned his suit.

I fell back and looked into the twilight sky, over the horizon a light blazed on a cloud over Gotham. My stomach rolled, tomorrow there would be the outcome on the front page. Tonight I had to babysit the toddlers while Mom and George go out. Hopefully far away from what that signal.

It was getting darker by the minute and just as the sun had disappeared, I decided to set out on the walk home. Wind rustled the branches above her and whistled through the empty streets. It looked like there was something on the news. I looked at their faces and knew that whatever it was, I didn't want to know.

Though most of the houses in my neighborhood were cookie cutter, George wanted something more. He wanted to remind everyone that he was an art major. My house, as a result, is a nice little two-story, painted in a bright red and gold with green trimming. George modeled it after his favorite superhero. Mom humored him, saying it's a nice homage. I told him it was obsessive and stupid. That hero hadn't been seen in what seemed like forever. Now it was just the Bat.

Through the window I could see George inside, he was sitting on a chair watching the clock. I went to the backdoor, George looked like he didn't want to be disturbed. George had said I wasn't old enough to be trusted with a key to the house. Mom didn't set out a spare because she knew I didn't need one. After breaking into my own house I went to go check on the toddlers. Jackson and Edmund had nodded off long before I got home. Bee, however, was tossing about.

"What's wrong Bumble Bee?" I whispered.

"Bats...and Mommy...and coins! Daddy got a call from the police!" poor little Bee sounded terrified.

"It's just a dream, why don't you just calm down Bumble Bee. Mom is just probably stuck in traffic. It isn't anything to worry over." My own fear was hard to control.

Bee knew something was up, there was a look of hatred in her eyes that glared at me as I walked out. I raced downstairs.

"Where is she?" I whimpered.

"Two-Face held her hostage at the city hall. Took her with him to his warehouse. The Commissioner said that Batman was on his way. Dear God, I hope he gets there in time!" George couldn't control himself. He was crying, I felt like crying too.

I slowly made my way to my bedroom and closed the door behind me. I threw my jacket, kicked off my shoes and pulled my socks off. Then slid down the wall, my face in my hands, and let the tears come rushing down.

"God, if you are really up there, please don't let us lose her. George needs his her, the toddlers need her. Please don't make me lose another one of my parents! You already took one, wasn't he enough?" I prayed, whispering it throughout that terrible night.

My stamina was giving out when a phone rang downstairs. George's voice rang out the house, there was nothing that could contain his joy. It was a foregone conclusion on what happened. So I went to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning George and I went to visit Mom in the hospital. The doctors said that there were some broken bones and mental scars but she should be fine in a couple of months. George's boss, Mr. Wayne came to visit her too. He said that he would pay for her hospital bills. He even offered to take care of me and the toddlers so that George could keep a closer eye on Mom. George, bless his soul, was considering sending me and the toddlers off with a complete stranger. Mr. Wayne, though I must admit, is very attractive. Which is probably why I'm not totally averse to this idea.

"No thank you, sir. I need to stay here and see that my mother is taken care of." I replied to Mr. Wayne's question.

"Kate! You do not talk that way to Mr. Wayne!" George was being a suck up.

There was flash in Mr. Wayne's eyes, it was as if I was some sort of challenge for him. A problem that just needed a solution, a broken toy that needed fixing. I didn't like that look, not one bit. I sort of shrunk in that moment, losing my steel resolve. I became Kate, the spine-less wimp who couldn't stick up for herself.

"My butler, Alfred, will come and pick you up tomorrow. Good evening to you Mr. Anders and Miss Fisher." There was something about this man, something…sinister.

George glared at me for a few minutes before calming down, Mom was still out cold so it was just us two in there.

"I'm sorry about what happened to Linda, its my fault really. I should not have told her to drop off some papers for me. Gotham is too dangerous for little stuff like that. Sometimes I wish we could just leave, and get away from all of this." George was nearly silent when he said this.

"But you're not going to leave that job of yours, are you. Not even with Mom nearly dead, or Bee traumatized. The more things change, the more things stay the same." I laughed at him, at Mom, and at everything that had happened to make this possible. I was harsh, perhaps too harsh. He deserved it though.

He laughed too, his even more ironic than mine. I don't understand why he's treating me like a baby. He's only nine-teen years older than me. I'm a teenager now for God's sake! I bet that when he was thirteen his parents let him do whatever he wanted.

"You need to get home and start packing. The toddlers I will help with. I need you to pack proper things, he is my boss and the richest man in Gotham. " George sounded worn out, older.

"Why am I not staying with your parents? Aren't they really rich too?" I ventured out on a limb with this one.

"They kicked me out when I married Linda, said she was a tramp who was just looking for crack money. I did not think you would get along with them." he sighed.

We sat in silence after that one. Down the hall we could hear reports of Batman and some bank robberies.

"Its time we got going then, George. We need to get ready for a long week." I sounded old too.

George nodded and then we left. I looked back at Mom though, and it just about broke my heart.


	3. Chapter 3

Jackson and Bee were fighting when we got home. Edmund said that Bee had hit Jackson after he called her a pig. George went to straighten them out while I went to go pack.

I bet it would be exciting to live in such a mysterious place for a whole month, but I sure would miss this house. I mean he even has a butler! I can't wait to tell my misfits about this one. They would be so jealous that they would be begging me to their friend again.

I can just imagine it now! Johnny and Sammy opening up every door for me, treating me just like a lady. Even Vicky would acknowledge my superiority. They would ask what it was like to live in the high-end of life, of course I would make up some stories to make them feel sorry. We would mess around all day, just like the good old times. We were the scourge of our little neighborhood, nothing could have stopped us not even Batman himself!

"Katie! Katie! Help!" Edmund had run up behind me and was now latched onto my leg."You pack my stuff, and I pick out books for us." He was trying a Bambi face on me. It has worked on me before, but not this time. Sometimes your luck just runs out.

Edmund was the youngest of George's children. Bee and Jackson were the middle twins, and I was the oldest at thirteen years old. The twins were born before Mom and George were married. It caused a minor scandal in the elderly Anders' social circle. They disowned George and kicked him out, forcing him to get a job at Wayne Industries. For four years we lived in Mom's apartment before George got the big promotion in late December. It took the entire rest of the school before we could actually have a house.

"I can't do that, sport. I have to go pack my stuff first. You can go pick out your books first and wait for me." I grinned, ruffling his curly hair. He was pouting, I knew he was about to throw a tantrum any second now.

All he did was kick my knee and run off to his Daddy.

"Daddy! Katie is meany!" he was yelling so loud that Mom could probably hear him.

"Lousy little brat…" I muttered under my breath.

It took me forever to finish my packing and Edmund's. Me and George moved the stuff downstairs and then made spaghetti for dinner. Jackson and Bee started a food fight and Edmund scraped his knee falling out of his stool. George was over his head trying to clean up the mess. They looked like an ordinary family, with their dark hair and brown eyes. It made me sad, so I left. To George, I was the red-headed stepchild. Except for the fact that my hair was blond.

"Who wants to go get ice cream?" George was going to spoil those babies rotten, though I knew they would never complain. I bet he wouldn't even notice that I wasn't coming too.

He isn't my father and he never will be! No matter how much he tries to pretend like I listen to him. It's only because of Mom that I even put up with him. I can handle myself, I don't need anyone.

"Kate, do you want to come too? We can go buy you something else if want me too! Please…Linda would want you to." His voice dropped after that. God, I felt guilty. Why did he have to play the Mom card?

"I'll be down in a flash. Don't worry."

Mom had always said that before you judge someone, you have to walk a mile in their shoes. She said prejudiced pride was society's greatest fault. If that's true, then I'm the most prideful person you'll ever meet.


	4. Chapter 4

George's favorite flavor of ice cream was chocolate. It was just about the only thing that we had in common. And he knew it.

The creamery was a small niche, a tiny hole-in-the-wall sort of place. Need to know only. The windows were grimy, the doorknob greasy, but inside it was heavenly. The floors were always gleaming, checkerboard patterned to match the table cloths.

"Do you need any napkins?" Asked - if her tag were to be trusted - Sophia, his server for today.

"Yeah, that would be nice."

The ride over from the house was awkward. George's radio was still broken which meant there was nothing to break the unending silence from the house to here.

The kids were running around the entire place. George was blankly staring at them. It was like he couldn't understand why they were doing it.

"Did your parents ever let you play when you were little?" I asked, curious to know more about this man.

George flinched, then he smiled. "You don't need to answer if you don't want to." I said quietly, ashamed of myself for bringing up what seemed to be a sore topic.

"It's all right. My parents are high society. Playing was not considered 'proper' by their standards. Their rules would seem very draconian compared to mine." He started laughing, a quiet snigger into his hand. "Even after all they put me through, they still expected me to just hang around after high school."

"Did you?" I asked, leaning forwards subconsciously.

"Yeah, I was living off my parent's checks. There was no place for me to go. "

"So you just lived with them for nine years? When you could have just left?" It's hard for me to wrap my brain around this. Why would someone not run off when they had to power to? If it had been me, I'd have cleared off without so much as a goodbye post -it left on the fridge.

"There was no reason for me to. Everyone I knew was in that same circle. If I had left there would be no one looking out for me. It would just have been me in a very dangerous world. Alone." He sobered up, a distant look in his eyes.

"But then you found Mom, and everything was dandy." The terra incognita was over, this was my part. Mom had never really told me how she and George met. As she once said "a woman doesn't kiss and tell".

"Not yet, sport. We met at one of Mr. Wayne's infamous charity balls. She was serving food in the hallway and passed by me while I was talking to one of my old schoolmates. She tripped over his foot and got caviar all over my suit. She apologized; I said it was my fault. It was this back and forth before that butler of his - oh what-his-name...Albert, Alfred, something like that - and Alfred told us to go clean up."

"Then: you got her phone number, Penguin attacked the party, y'all got locked in the bathroom, and Batman had to rescue you." I was giggling.

"Yep, then we started dating and that's the end of that story." He laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I started thinking of him as part of the family. That he wasn't some outside entity that had three kids with my mom. Mom would want me too. But what if I just don't think I need him? Would that okay?

"We need to get home now though. A nice good rest will get you ready for the big move tomorrow." he said.

We rounded up the kids and hauled them home. Jackson took Edmund to bed, and George tucked Bee into hers. I went to room and just fell on the bed, asleep seconds within my head hitting the pillow. I needed all the rest I could get.


End file.
